Title: SpeculationPublisher: Queen GamesLanguage(s): English, French, German (No necessary in-game text)Condition: New and in shrinkShipping: Free to the UK or Germany, 7 EUR for shipping outside of the UK or Germany

I grabbed two of my artistically talented friends (Greg did my podcast logo!) and put them on the microphone to talk about their hobby-within-a-hobby: handcrafted games. These guys have both taken a known, existing boardgame or two and hand made their own copies. It might have been to create something that's hard to get, or it might have been to make a personalized, deluxe version of a favorite game. In any case, it's a labor of love, takes time & money, and takes some real craftmanship & technique. I found their stories fascinating, as much because they're so beyond anything I could accomplish myself.

Lincoln Damerst starts by talking about his copy of the old Parker Brothers proto-eurogame, Survive! In fact, he posted a good description and photos of the process. Greg Wilzbach talks about his copy of Spekulation, which Lincoln also did! Though he didn't finish the goal (and never posted images of his efforts), Greg also talks about making his own deluxe versions of Wiz-War and Up Front.

The game I tried to pimp out was Kings & Castles, but I'm not finished. It won't end up looking like the fancy games Greg & Lincoln are doing. I'm just trying to replace the boring cardboard counters with colored wooden discs, hand-inked with simple icons.

I talked about Artscow.com in my previous podcast, and here it was mentioned again. That's for images printed on things (cards, throw pillows, watch faces, you name it). For 3D objects made to custom designs, Lincoln mentioned Shapeways.com. Custom dice are just the tip of the iceberg. You could make custom icebergs!

Merchant of Venus is a handcrafted title these guys haven't done--but admire someone else's work. And someone else's. Maybe there's more of this stuff going on than I realized!

Lincoln's wife Nikki Pontius made a very clever graphic overhaul of Würfel Bingo into something that's improved for its theme: Waffle Bingo!

Title: SpeculationPublisher: Queen GamesLanguage(s): English, French, German (No necessary in-game text)Condition: New and in shrinkShipping: Free to the UK or Germany, 7 EUR for shipping outside of the UK or Germany

Title: SpekulationPublisher: db SpieleLanguage(s): German (components are language independent; English rules included)Condition: Used, complete, and in good condition. Cards are curled, as is common with db Spiele titles.